Scissor Snake with our colorfabb_XT

We found the very handy scissor snake on Pinshape by Richard Swika and printed it with our colorfabb_XT. This design “enables people with limited use of their hands to manipulate small objects at a distance in a fun and effective way,” according to Swika.scissor-snakeThe original design can be found on Pinshape: https://pinshape.com/items/25747-3d-printed-scissor-snake-easy-grip-custom It can easily be customized according to your needs.

We printed this design as one single print on the Ultimaker 2, using colorFabb_XT Light Blue as our material of choice with a layer height of 0.15mm. colorFabb_XT has the right properties for this print which need strength and toughness.

We launched colorFabb_XT 2 years ago at the London 3D Print Show together with Eastman Chemical Company. Eastman is our material partner for co-polyesters. colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties : High strength and very high toughness, Odor Neutral processing, High Tg / improved temp. resistance, Styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance, BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation. It will allow the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way.

You can find the data sheets and other documentation on our website: http://colorfabb.com/Materials/

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colorFabb_XT is available in 14 colors, including clear.

colorFabb gift box

Recently at the TCT Show we finally caught up with Tony Short. Tony has been using colorFabb’s special filaments with great effect and we have been following his impressive work for quite a while now. You can find a few examples of his work on Twitter: here, here and here. We are always happy to meet up with our users at shows, but Tony had a surprise for us in store: a printed giftbox made with our special filaments, based on the colorFabb logo. A typographer by trade, Tony put in his best effort and came up with a truly stunning print:

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We’ll let Tony explain in his own words how he made this beautiful gift box:

“Since I began 3D printing I’ve been a big fan of Colorfabb’s more exotic materials. I’ve been creating artworks with them for the last year or so, and I was very pleased to find that colorFabb loved my designs / prints as well. I decided to make one of my printed fancy boxes, using CF’s wood and metal filaments. Normally my work has a typographic flavour (given that’s my background) but in this instance I designed a box using the ‘petal?’ device from the CF logo.”

“I designed the box using Moments of Inspiration (MoI3D) software. Starting with the ‘wooden’ shell first, and creating the holes for the inset ‘metal’ panels.  On my Ulitmaker2 printer the Woodfill filament has always been slightly less than perfect, but I don’t mind that because it gives the finished job some defects, which makes it look more natural. They are printed at 0.3mm layers with a 0.6mm nozzle, so don’t take much time. Afterwards the minimal supports for the inset holes are removed, and because they will be covered with panels I don’t need to worry about the surface finish there.”

“I finish Woodfill prints with multiple passes of sandpaper, usually 120, 180, 400, 1500, 4000 grit, and then a couple of coats of acrylic lacquer.”

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“For the three metal panels I wanted to create patterns that related to CF, ending up with a Dutch townhouse scene, a more traditional tulip pattern and an abstract design based on the CF logo letterforms. I did think that using tulips might be a bit stereotypical, but given that CF use windmills on their packaging I thought I would be fairly safe.”

“All three patterns we built as 3D objects in MOI3D, then repeated, merged and flattened to create the finish 3D files. They were printed in Copperfill and Bronzefill, 0.1 layer height, 0.4 nozzle. No supports are needed, and finishing is a lot easier than the Woodfill sanding!”

“The townhouses and tulips were given a rough sand down to remove any stray bits and blobs. Then sprayed with black matt paint, fairly thick to get into all the nooks and crannies. This is then wiped off with a rag, whilst still wet, to give an aged look. Once dry these are then brushed with a brass wire brush, and finished with some high grit paper. The lettering panel was roughly brushed, but then treated with some oxidising liquid which accelerates the ‘verdigris’ process. Left overnight it was bright green the next day, so some strategic sanding and polishing knocked back the effect to look more realistic.”

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“The metal panels were simply glued into their holes, and the box given a final coat of lacquer to protect the metal finish, and stop any additional oxidisation. I use a lacquer designed for covering gilding with metal leaf, but I guess any would do.”

“The way the box is printed with Woodfill gives a realistic wood grain effect, and the 3D printing means you can make designs that would be very difficult using traditional techniques.”

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We once again thank Tony for his beautiful gift box and using our materials to such a great effect.

We have seen great use of our special filaments and post-processing possibilities. We have collected several blogs about post-processing metal filled filaments in one place, which you can visit here.

Tony’s work can be followed on Twitter, via his account. Follow him and be amazed by his work.

Our special filaments are available online and throughout our worldwide distributor and reseller network. Enquire locally for availability. We also offer a special filament value pack online, where you can choose 8 special filaments in one package.

Death Gun (Desu Gan) masks with XT-CF20

It was time for a comparison print. With Halloween coming up we chose the Death Gun (Desu Gan) mask from ferreusveritas. The material we used is our XT-CF20, colorFabb_XT with 20% carbon fibre added.

The big mask was printed on the Ultimaker 2 and the small mask on the Hephestos 2. Both masks were printed on a 0.1mm layer height. We roughened up the small mask with sandpaper afterwards.

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Original design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:525610

Originally released early 2015, XT-CF20 has been a hit since day one. We have found a lot of practical uses for this stiff material, like printing parts for a bike, an RC Truggy car and even parts of our recently released F1 scale model. However, one feature that has been commented on before is the beautiful matte finish that XT-CF20 brings. In short, XT-CF20 is a functional material with stunning looks.

XT-CF20 is an abrasive material wearing out a brass nozzle quite fast. For the print made with the Ultimaker 2 we used the new Olsson Ruby nozzle, generously provided by 3DVerkstan, our distributor in the Nordic region and manufacturer of the nozzle. In the words of Daniel Ljungstig, CEO of 3DVerkstan: “After more then 10 months of testing, we are happy to target a November release of this exciting upgrade for desktop 3D Printing. The Olsson Ruby is a high-tech nozzle with a carefully designed ruby tip, which makes it have unique properties. The ruby nozzle is designed by Anders Olsson, inventor of the popular Olsson Block that is also part of the Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printers. He designed it to be able to print extremely hard materials for scientific research at Uppsala University in Sweden.”

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During our test printing the mask we have seen quite some benefits over the regular brass nozzles that are the current industry standard: The ruby nozzle retains the excellent heat conducting properties of brass, while being extremely resistant to wear. This means that you can print your standard materials as usual, but also very abrasive materials such as XT-CF20 and steelFill. Daniel Ljungstig adds: “In addition to this, many of our test users have reported an improved surface quality compared to standard nozzles.”

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The Olsson Ruby will be available in November 2016.

The small mask was printed on the Hephestos 2 with the regular brass nozzle provided with the printer.

colorFabb’s XT-CF20 is available in both 750 grams and 2.2kg spools. Click here to see the availabilty.

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Dodecahedron with colorFabb nGen

Today’s print, straight from our own print lab, is the Rhombic Dodecahedron Derived Figure by Fred Bartels, which we printed entirely with our all-round nGen filament.

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Design by Fred Bartels: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:539489

We used the Delta Tower in our print lab to achieve the build height of 40cm for this print and printed with a 0.2mm layer height. This work of art is perfectly suited for our nGen filament and we selected the stunning light blue color for this print.

Printing high resolution is no problem with nGen. With good performance on overhanging surfaces and great stability during print we think this makes nGen a great all-round filament for every day use.

nGen is made from Eastman Amphora™ AM3300 3D polymer. Like colorFabb_XT, colorFabb_HT and nGen_FLEX, it is part of Eastman’s Amphora range of copolyesters for 3D printing. Find more about co-polyesters, what they are and what the advantages are by visiting our previous blog.

nGen is a low-odor, styrene-free material uniquely suited for 3D printing enthusiasts, particularly those who need the flexibility to print within a wide processing temperature range. With nGen you will have good flow properties through the printer nozzle—even at lower temperatures than some other polymers require. These properties make nGen more workable at a wider breadth of temperatures, producing reliable results and resulting in less waste.

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Amphora 3300 has been made into high-quality filament that exhibits advanced overhang ability, excellent looks, and large printing temperature range—empowering large panel of users to create durable and useful items. With the unique combination of a low processing temperature and an elevated temperature resistance, nGen can quickly print creations that are functional, durable, efficient, and attractive.

 

You can find more information about nGen by clicking here. nGen is available in 17 colors.

Learn more about printing with nGen by visiting our tutorial.

 

Rubber band powered boat

We printed a rubber band powered boat with nGen Orange and Light Blue on the Leapfrog HS.

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Design can be found here: http://www.thingiverse.com/make:254456

nGen is a great material to print toys with. For toys we need materials with great colors and good stable mechanical properties. nGen comes in 17 colors. Because of nGen’s good mechanical properties parts will last a long time. Printing high resolution is no problem with nGen. With good performance on overhanging surfaces and great stability during printint we think this makes nGen a great material to create your own creations.

You can find more information on the dedicated nGen landing page. nGen is now available and in stock in our webshop.

With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

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nGen is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM3300 and is a low-odor, styrene-free choice that is uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. It has good flow properties through the printer nozzle – even at lower temperatures than some other polymers require. These properties make nGen more workable at a wider breadth of temperatures, producing reliable results and resulting in less waste.

You can find all relevant data sheets here: http://colorfabb.com/Materials/

Darwin bust

Charles Darwin is of course the 19th century naturalist who popularized the concept of evolution. He wrote both On The Origin of Species and The Voyage of the Beagle, both classics, laying the ground work for over a century of science and debate. A great man to honor by printing a bust in colorFabb_XT and while we are at it, we printed two.

The surface finish is very smooth, being printed with a 0.16mm layer height on an Ultimaker 2 at 45mm/s.

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The design by the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney, Australia can be found here.

colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties : High strength and very high toughness, Odor Neutral processing, High Tg / improved temp. resistance, Styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance, BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation. It will allow the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way. With Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

colorFabb_XT is currently available in 14 colors (including clear).

colorFabb_XT was launched in September 2014 at the London 3D Print Show as a first collaboration between colorFabb and Eastman Chemical Company. It was the first of four of the Amphora co-polyesters which we released as 3D printing filaments. colorFabb_XT was followed in 2015 by nGen, early 2016 by colorFabb_HT and recently by our first foray into semi-flexible filaments: nGen_FLEX.

You find find out more about printing with colorFabb_XT by clicking here.

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nGen_FLEX round-up after one week

A week ago we launched nGen_FLEX, our brand new semi-flexible 3D printing filament, at the TCT Show. We love printing with the new nGen_FLEX filament ourselves all day long, but what excites us even more is the feedback we are getting from all over the world. Below is a selection of the prints and comments we have received so far in the first week. After taking in initial pre-orders, we have started shipping nGen_FLEX earlier this week and will continue doing so, so we expect more awesome prints to show up in the time to come.

In the meantime, enjoy the prints that were already made by our users, whom we thank for sharing them:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLMYV8hhbVI/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLJk3o4B2wZ/

https://twitter.com/haroldreedijk/status/781536958145241088

https://twitter.com/Spectra3DTech/status/781057000499187712

 

You can find out more about nGen_FLEX by clicking here to go to our dedicated landing page. nGen_FLEX is available in two colors: Dashing black and stylish dark gray. And yes, it prints very well with printers with a Bowden tube. Yes, it prints at normal speed. Yes, it has a high temperature resistance (125 degrees C). Yes, the layer adhesion is very good. In terms of functionality and ease of printing we have you covered.

nGen_FLEX is made for those who are seriously looking for a engineering grade semi-flex material, capable of withstanding high temperatures, good chemical stability and result in tough parts fit for real world use. With nGen_FLEX you won’t need to compromise too much on printing speed and the need for specialized flex-extruders is eliminated.

nGen_FLEX is made with Eastman Amphora™ Flex 3D Polymer FL6000. Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer is a low-odor, styrene-free choice that is uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient and attractive.

 

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Rope tensioner

We use 3D printing for everyday use. Recently we needed a rope tensioner and printed this with colorFabb_HT Clear. For strong and sturdy prints, we use our colorFabb_HT for the best results. This rope tensioner is perfectly suited for camping or use around the house.

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You can find the design by Martin Longbone on Thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:893020

The tensioner was printed on a Kossel XL printer with an E3D Chimera nozzle at 40 mm/s. Layer height is 0.16mm with 100% infill.

You can find out more about colorFabb_HT on our dedicated landing page: http://ht.colorfabb.com/

colorFabb_HT is perfectly suitable for prints that need to perform well in the real world and require extreme durability. We launched colorFabb_HT earlier this year as our high temperature and high performance filament of choice. colorFabb_HT is made with BPA-free Eastman Amphora HT5300 3D polymer and empowers professional users to create more durable and useful items, making prototyping truly functional.

colorFabb_HT is available in 5 colors: http://colorfabb.com/co-polyesters/colorfabb-ht

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TCT Show 2016 recap

Hi all,

We wrapped up the TCT Show 2016. Packed our goods, stacked them on the pallets and everything is heading back to colorFabb HQ again soon. We’re about to board our plane and leave Birmingham once more. It has been a great two days in Birmingham, meeting old friends and making new ones. We were there with our partners Stacker and Eastman Chemical Company, answering all your questions, showing the prints and the printers and giving away a lot of free samples of our co-polyesters.


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Two true artists dropped by: Steve Cox and Tony Short. They brought us their finest prints to showcase at our booth. Steve brought a statue, printed with bronzeFill and manually polished:

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Also, Tony Short dropped by and gave us a fantastic present: a gift box based on the colorFabb logo. You can see it for yourself. This gift is much appreciated and will get a special place at the office.

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As we said, true artists who not only know how to print, but how to post-process to achieve the highest quality possible.

Of course we had a big announcement at the beginning of the show. We launched nGen_FLEX this week and the initial reactions at show were extremely positive. Our new flexible filament has a Tg of over 125 degrees and is extremely well suited for engineering parts and prosthetics. Based on a co-polyester from Eastman, you can be assured of the high quality of the material. We have created a dedicated landing page for nGen_FLEX, which you can reach by clicking here.

We recently sent a few people spools to test nGen_FLEX and we saw an overwhelming support for our latest filament. Here are a few mentions of our beta testers:

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Layer adhesion is great and you can use this semi-flexible material with a Bowden tube, which we showed while printing on an Ultimaker 2+ with nGen_FLEX continuously during the show.

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nGen_FLEX is now available in black and dark gray.

The one feature print everybody talked about was the OpenRC F1 Car, designed by Daniel Norée, we published about last week. If you missed it, you can catch up here. We printed the entire car (a full 107cm long) with co-polyester based filaments: nGen, colorFabb_XT, colorFabb_HT, XT-CF20 and of course our latest nGen_FLEX which we used for the tires.

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The F1 car was mostly printed on the Stacker S4 during the summer. We had the Stacker on site during the TCT, printing technical parts – 4 at the same time! The Stacker S4 is a perfect printer for large scale projects and small series production. You can find more information by visiting our website: http://stacker.colorfabb.com/

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A final honorable mention goes out to the team of Creat3D, our UK distributor. They built a big colorFabb tower at their stand!

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We want to thank everybody who visited us or followed the TCT Show through social media. Special thanks to Ludovic and Richard from Eastman, as well as Norston from Stacker to man the stand with us during these two busy days. It was great meeting everybody again and are too many to mention.

We hope to see you again next year!

(Oh, and don’t forget: the 10% discount code in our webshop will be valid the entire weekend. Use TCT2016 as the coupon code for a 10% discount on all spools of filament!)

nGen_FLEX, our new flexible 3D printing filament

Today, on the first day of the TCT Show, we proudly announce and launch our new 3D printing filament:

nGen_FLEX

Heat resistance 125C | FDA compliance | Styrene-free | BPA-free

nGen_FLEX is a new elastomer material added to our existing range of co-polyester functional 3D printing filaments. It is made from Eastman Amphora™ Flex 3D Polymer FL6000 and the fourth filament in our range of Amphora based co-polyester, following colorFabb_XT, nGen and colorFabb_HT.

nGen_FLEX is available for pre-ordering today: Click here. Shipping will commence next week.

It is best described as a semi-flexible material with good printability on most 3D printers eliminating the use for specialized flex extruders. It’s rated at a Shore A hardness level of 95. By adjusting infill and perimeter settings it’s possible to influence how flexible a part should feel after printing.

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nGen_FLEX will initially be available in two colors: Dark Gray and Black. Other colors may be released after initial launch including the possibility for skintone colors. Several skintone colors have already be developed and will be on display at the TCT Show this week. nGen_FLEX is a great material to print prosthetics, for instance.

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Fingers: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:387072/#files / Hand and mount: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:380665

For those who are looking for a durable flexible material to be used in their prototypes, demonstrators or even final parts, look no further. The filament has excellent chemical resistance and extremely high temperature resistance. nGen_FLEX is temperature resistant to about 125C. That means 3D printed objects can be steam sterilized at 121C.

nGen_FLEX is engineered as a semi-flexible materials which allows most users to print at regular print speeds, cutting down build times compared to other very flexible filaments. Also Bowden style 3D printers, 1.75mm and 2.85mm, will be able to push this filament through without much trouble.

You can find many more advantages of this material on our dedicated landing page: http://ngen-flex.colorfabb.com/

Because of its durable nature the material is an excellent choice for making your own tools and clamps. Whether it’s an improvement for your workshop or actual custom made parts for a productionline, this material will be uniquely suited for the job. One project we used nGen_FLEX for this summer was the F1 open RC project. We wanted to print the entire car with co-polyester filament and found nGen_FLEX to be perfect for the tires.

During the summer we have been busy testing this material on several printers. Below you can find the settings of some of these printers. Click on the table to find our more about our recommended settings:

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nGen_FLEX is available for pre-ordering now and will start shipping next week. Price for a spool, which contains 650 grams, is € 39.95 (incl. VAT), so that is € 33 excluding VAT for a full spool of filament!

You can find us this week at the TCT Show in Birmingham, where we are showcasing several prints made with nGen_FLEX: the F1 car, the prosthetic hand, several functional parts and a skateboard (the wheels were printed with nGen_FLEX). If you are at the show or near Birmingham, we are in Hall 3A, Stand B36.

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